4 Crucial Mistakes People Make When Learning a Language

I’ve never felt like an idiot so many times in my life.

Learning a new language can be soul-crushing, ego-destroying and endlessly-frustrating. Especially when you realize a 7-year old is officially smarter than you.

If you’ve ever tried learning a language, you probably know what I mean.

I started my language journey back in 2021 — I was learning Swedish. 2 years later I was able to acquire the highest grade in my C2 proficiency. Now I study Medicine at a university completely taught in Swedish.

It was tough. Extremely insightful. And a lot of mistakes made on the way.

Today I would like to share with you those mistakes, and how you can learn from it.

Consuming More Rather Than Doing More

I still remember when I picked up my first self-help book.

It was James Clear’s, Atomic Habits. I remember how drawn I was to the book and ended up finishing it under the week. I remember putting the book down with so much enthusiasm, convinced my life will change forever now that I have acquired this holy knowledge.

Yet I remember how the week after finishing the book, the enthusiasm eventually faded, and I was back to where I was originally.

This is one of the main reasons many fail when it comes to learning a language (as I almost did).

There is no doubt, reading and consuming knowledge can move us towards our goals. But if we don’t actually apply what we learn, we are no better than who we were before we picked up the book.

I learnt this the hard way.

But luckily there is a solution to this.

The solution is to simply make sure that you are always doing more than you are consuming.

Let’s take an example. I remember when I started learning Swedish, my go-to was watching Swedish TV series (Snabba Cash in particular). Instead of passively just watching, I made sure to always had a pen and paper on hand. Whenever I ran into a word I didn’t know — or even better — a cool phrase that one of the characters used, I wrote it down.

But it doesn’t stop right here.

Now comes the most important part: applying it.

How did this look in reality? It meant taking these words and forcing myself to use it in a real-life context. Perhaps it could be next time I went to order a coffee. Or when I went to class. Or when I met up with some local friends. Then at the end of each day, I would go back to the same list and ask myself: “Did I use these words today?”

The rule was simple: whatever I consume, I must apply.

The beauty of this is not that not only I get to use what I learnt in a real-life example, but I also get real-time feedback from people who can speak the language.

By getting something wrong, I know that I can get it right next time.

The bottom line: when it comes to learning a language, make sure you are doing more than you are consuming.

Wanting To Be Perfect

Google Translate is not your best friend.

In the beginning of my language journey, I was a chronic Google Translate user. I remember during class, I would secretly search up the exact words and correct grammar needed to ask a simple question so I didn’t look like an idiot.

But by doing that, I have become the idiot.

There’s one crucial reason why trying to get everything perfect when learning a language will never work. What is it?

Nobody cares.

Yes, we are taught that all languages have a correct grammar structure, a correct way to pronounce or spell a world, or a correct way to conjugate verbs. These are important if we are writing a scientific article or job application. But 90% of the times, we are hanging out or texting friends or colleagues.

And 90% of the times, no one really cares.

Nobody cares if you make happen to screw up grammar when texting. Or when you use the wrong choice of word when chatting. Why? Because in the end of the day, the goal is not to be perfect. The goal is so that others can understand.

Now I am not saying you should not try get everything right. If you are, I applaud you.

What I am saying is if you are noticing that your strive towards perfection is stopping you from speaking up, stepping out of your comfort zone, or giving you fear that others will judge you: remember, nobody cares if you make a mistake.

The bottom line: by trying to be perfect, you prevent yourself from making mistakes. But by making less mistakes, you prevent yourself from getting better.

Sticking To One Way Of Learning

What do Disney, Coca-Cola and Samsung have in common?

Besides the fact that they are huge players in their respective industry, the common denominator between them is that they sell a wide variety of products. In other words, they started with one product, and over the years, diversified to many other products.

One could argue this is the primary strategy to their success.

This is also another huge mistake many of us make: we don’t diversify our learning.

It begins with how we are taught languages.

Why? Because while attending classes, completing assignments, doing homework, and passing exams are important steps towards success, there is a significant flaw in this approach.

It’s only a tiny slice of the pie.

1 year in my Swedish-learning journey, I ran into this problem.

I just completed my B2 proficiency exam, and I was pumped that I was getting closer to fluency. Then one day I was out with some friends and some friends’ of friends tagged along. They spoke entirely in Swedish the entire night and I remember sitting there with one thought throughout: ”I have no idea what they’re saying”

The next day, it hit me.

I realized if I continued to only go to class, complete the assignments and learn how I was “meant” to learn, I’ll just end up being a talking textbook. I realized that in order to increase my chances of success in fluency, it doesn’t mean throwing out my textbooks.

It meant doing more than just the textbook.

So what’s the solution?

Its simple: expose yourself to as many things in the language as possible.

This could look like listening to podcasts in the language. Watching your favorite movies dubbed in the language. Playing your favorite boardgames with friends written in the language. Record yourself having conversations in the language. Join a book club in the language. The possibilities are endless.

Become a language sponge.

The awesome thing with diversifying how you learn is that by putting yourself in these different situations, you don’t only learn more — you start to find out what kind of activities in that language you genuinely enjoy.

The bottom line: by diversifying your learning, you don’t only increase your chances of success, you also increase the chances of it being more fun

Forgetting To Be Curious

This final mistake is also the most important one.

Learning a language is a journey that never really ends. You are going to meet all kinds of people. Do all sorts of activities. And best of all, you are immersing yourself into an entirely new world. This world is filled with weird traditions, fascinating history, food and many other things.

And by learning the language, you are unlocking the door into this world.

My biggest regret was not taking advantage of this.

We all have our reasons to when it comes to learning a language.

Perhaps you love the culture. Perhaps you want to connect an communicate on a deeper level with your partner. Or like me, perhaps you need it for education and career.

But the bottom line is this: you are obtaining a skill that thousands to millions have. And by allowing ourselves to be curious, we allow ourselves to not only learn more, but love it more.